Freight Collaboration Key Trend of Past Year

The just released 2014 State of Green Business report examined the top sustainable business trends of the past year. Right at the top of the list was collaboration. EDF agrees. We are seeing an uptake in the willingness of companies to work together on smart practices that reduce cost and improve environmental performance.

Ocean Spray Cranberries was highlighted in the Green Biz report for their willingness to collaborate with Tropicana. EDF produced a case study of this effort. By working together, Ocean Spray was able to reduced carbon emissions from one of its key freight lanes by over 60% and cut costs for that lane by 40%.

EDF partnered with MIT to produce the Ocean Spray case and two other freight case studies this past year. All three demonstrated the value of collaboration. OfficeMax & Boise, Inc. demonstrated the importance of supplier-customer collaboration for outbound freight. Caterpillar demonstrated the value of collaborating with its suppliers to build fuller inbound freight moves. The lead author for the cases, Dr. Edgar Blanco, recently noted in a recent article in MIT Sloan Review, collaboration is often a key in greening freight.